A collection of stories about gunmen who were hired as law officers to keep the peace and in some cases tame the towns that became out of control. Some of the deeds of these men led to their prominence in frontier law enforcement history. There were also extraordinarily brave men who had become obscured by history. Their stories are here as well as lesser known stories by old west legends. Keeping the Peace Tales From the Old West Order the complete book from Booklocker.com http://www.booklocker.com/p/books/6010.html?s=pdf or from your favorite neighborhood or online bookstore. Your Free excerpt appears below. Enjoy! KEEPING THE PEACE TALES FROM THE OLD WEST Copyright © 2012 Glenn M. Davis ISBN 978-1-61434-902-0 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author. Published by BookLocker.com, Inc., Bradenton, Florida. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper. Booklocker.com, Inc. 2012 First Edition Chapter One The Murder of Dora Hand Dora Hand aka Fannie Keenan (stage name) is described as a beautiful and talented actress and singer who travelled to Dodge City after her divorce from husband Theodore Hand in 1876. After the divorce Dora would continue to use her married name. Theodore Hand was a vaudevillian and honky-tonk musician who appeared with Dora in variety shows in New Orleans and along the Mississippi River. Dora was one of the most glamorous and famous women west of the Mississippi. Her early life remains a mystery but legend has it that she came from a good family back east and had received formal training in music and voice. Dora Hand – Circa 1878 1 Glenn M. Davis Dora Hand relocated to Dodge City from St. Louis to reunite with her best friend Fannie Garretson in 1878. Garretson was a seasoned performer who sang with Dora at Esher’s Varieties Theatre in St. Louis. Fannie Garretson was a friend of Dodge City Mayor James “Dog” Kelley, who was the proprietor of the Alhambra Saloon and Gambling House and through that connection, Garretson and Hand would be able to find work singing. The men of Dodge City quickly became fans of the new lady in town. An archived magazine article from Dodge City’s Boot Hill Museum describes her thus: “[She] was of medium height and build, with a face of classic beauty. There was a grace and charm in her walk. She dressed plainly, usually in black, and this color seemed to accentuate the ivory whiteness of her soft skin.” Hand was very popular at the newly opened Lady Gay. The Lady Gay also featured other popular entertainers such as comedian Eddie Foy. Now Dora Hand had become professionally and personally successful. Dora would captivate the rough and sometimes wild cowboy audience with her beauty and voice. She would also win the attention of the mayor. James “Dog” Kelley was Dora Hand’s biggest fan and admirer. He was often seen traveling around Dodge with Dora in his company. Soon thereafter she was appearing solo at the Lady Gay, earning an extraordinary high salary of $75 per week. Mayor Kelley hired Dora to perform at the Alhambra, allowing her to sing there for one hour, five nights a week. The owners of the Lady Gay fully agreed to Dora’s other employment at the Alhambra. The Lady Gay owners were Ben Springer and Jim Masterson the younger brother of Ford County Sheriff Bat Masterson. Jim Masterson was also employed as a Deputy City Marshal in Dodge. Dora Hand helped make the public more aware about the unfortunate poor. Her good deeds were noticed by other charitable residents who were also inspired to help. She was known to use her own money to buy groceries for the hungry and poor in town. Dora would also buy toys for the under privileged children and would come to the aid of residents who were sick as well. James Kenedy, the son of Mifflin and Petra Kenedy owned a one hundred seventy-two thousand acre fenced tract twenty three miles from Corpus Christi, Texas. James was called “Spike” by his friends and the twenty three year old worked as a cattle driver for his parents. In the summer of 1878, Kenedy drove a herd of cattle from the family’s Texas ranch up to Dodge City. Once there he 2 Keeping the Peace: Tales From the Old West would winter over the cattle to fatten them up for the next year’s sale. Kenedy in his off hours was known to drink and gamble in the local saloons and would frequently find himself at odds with others including the law. In the summer of 1878 James Kenedy was a nuisance to local law enforcement with frequent brushes with the city marshals. For example, Assistant City Marshal Wyatt Earp arrested Kenedy on July 29, 1878 for carrying and brandishing a pistol. Kenedy paid a fine and was released with a warning to behave himself. Kenedy was from a wealthy family and he was accustomed to getting what he wanted when he wanted it. Kenedy was known to be short tempered and would become disorderly and prone to violence particularly when intoxicated. Although he had aggressive and violent tendencies he was not known for his individual courage. He was more likely to shoot a man in the back than to stand up to someone in a fair fight. For example, he once attempted to kill Print Olive in Ellsworth Kansas on July 27, 1872. Olive was sitting unarmed playing poker at the Ellsworth Billiard Saloon. Kenedy had accused Olive earlier in the day of cheating him when they played cards at Nick Lentz’s Saloon. Fortunately an armed James Kelly, a friend and employee of Olive’s was present and came to his defense. James Kelly shot Kenedy in the hip, clubbed him and took his revolver from him. According to the August 1, 1872 edition on the Ellsworth Reporter: “Ellsworth, which has been remarkably quiet this season, had its first shooting affair this season last Saturday at about six o’clock Kennedy (sic) came into the room, went behind the bar and taking a revolver walked up in front of Olive and fired at him – telling him to `pass in his checks. ’Olive threw up his hands exclaiming `don’t shoot. ’The second, third and fourth shot took effect, one entering the groin and making a bad wound, one in the thigh and the other in the hand.” It was fortunate for Kenedy that Print Olive had been unarmed for he had a reputation s a bad hombre to deal with because of his reputation as a gunfighter. Mayor Kelley warned Kenedy to change his attitude. He advised Kenedy that the Dodge law officers are going to enforce the law under his direction. Kenedy was advised that his bad temper and rowdy behavior would cause him to have a bad time with his lawmen. On Saturday, August 17, 1878 was a typical night at the Alhambra Saloon. The saloon was filled with cowboys drinking, gambling and enjoying the live entertainment. James “Spike” Kenedy was there that night but as usual he wasn’t having a good night. Kenedy was losing in blackjack and he accused the dealer of manipulating the cards. Additionally he was making advances toward the 3 Glenn M. Davis saloon’s singer Dora Hand which went unappreciated by the proprietor, James “Dog” Kelley. Kenedy would lose his temper once again when he thought he was being cheated. This led to a confrontation with Kelley and the two men began fighting. Kelley was bigger and stronger than Kenedy and was able to physically throw Kenedy out of the Alhambra Saloon. Kenedy was beaten and left lying in the street in front of the saloon. City Marshal Charlie Bassett arrested Kenedy for disorderly conduct. Kenedy paid a fine and was again warned to stay out of trouble. Kenedy held a grudge against the mayor and would begin to stalk him to learn his habits. He found that Mayor Kelley resided behind the Great Western Hotel. Kenedy would determine that Kelley slept in the front bedroom of the two room cabin that he owned south of the deadline. Dodge City had passed an ordinance that guns could not be worn or carried north of the “deadline” which was the railroad tracks. The south side where “anything went” was wide open. After recovering from his beating and learning the habits of Mayor Kelley, Kenedy left Dodge by train for Kansas City. The purpose of the trip was to buy the fastest horse he could find and ride it back to Dodge City. The plan to kill Mayor Kelley had been put in motion and the fast horse would be needed to keep ahead of the posse that would surely pursue him. Dodge City – Great Western Hotel – Circa 1874 4 Keeping the Peace: Tales From the Old West Kenedy would be away from Dodge for approximately two weeks and would return to carry out his plan to assassinate Mayor Kelley. It was October 3, 1878 and Kenedy was back in Dodge. That night Kenedy would stop at a saloon and was seen drinking with an unidentified male companion. The coward Kenedy had returned to kill Mayor Kelley at his home while he was sleeping. Unbeknownst to Kenedy his target was hospitalized at Fort Dodge with intestinal illness as Mayor Kelley needed an operation.